This is a local history book with attitude. It surveys the resort history of oceanside Rye Beach, New Hampshire, U.S.A., only to discover that people across America came here from 1830 on because it is so finitely beautiful and perfect. Marshland on one side, foaming ocean by a walkway on the other, and blue sky above, all loaded with history. Entrepreneurs, inventors, artists, and political figures came east to Rye Beach each summer to shake city dust off their souls. They made sure to bring all their friends; it seems the entire city of St. Louis, Missouri, was here each summer, so, who was running St. Louis! The book keys on Missouri governor David Francis, who ran the 1904 world's fair and olympics and was ambassador to Russia during the Russian Revolution, and also keys on Massachusetts governor Alvan Fuller, who built a famous mansion, garden, and horse/cattle farm at the coast. Fuller's son, Peter, won the Kentucky Derby, only to have it taken from him on charges of drugging. It is also a time when women rapidly gained rights and interests. In the 1890s at Rye Beach, they were pinning up their dresses to go on exciting bike rides, playing golf and tennis, watching boys play baseball, and yelling to them in baseball slang! Girls were even on college water polo teams. A girls' prep school arrived at Rye Beach in the 1920s, which was transformed into a women's college at Rye in the 1930s. Girls were encouraged to think, become expert horseback riders, and travel. One student even accompanied a writer on a thrilling and creative floating expedition through the Himalayas! This book challenges the reader to look with amazement at new inventions, as summer travelers came here by railroad bringing horse teams, bicycles, then automobiles. Shipwrecks, near-drownings, Coast Guard rescues, plays at the Farragut Playhouse in the 1930s, trolley rides, and horse shows are discussed in detail. Far better than summer fireworks, the state's Coastal Artillery unit under beams from searchlights practiced machingun and big 3-inch gun shooting for two weeks each summer at the beach. Famous Portsmouth Navy Yard was 8 miles north of Rye Beach, and the submarine Squalus was built here, only to sink off the coast with deaths. Great towns/cities of Portsmouth, Newburyport, and Exeter were next door, as was Phillips Exeter. Even World War II is discussed as local boys go off to battle. For a fascinating slice of American resort history at oceanside, with hotels and mansions over a period from 1865 to 1945, get this book and dream of olden days when things seemed so much slower and better.
About the Author: Special pricing note: Thanks to Amazon's generous marketing spirit, this book offers two great $$$ bargains. First of all, shipping is FREE. Second, if you order my book in paperback, you get the Kindle digital version FREE (order book first; then when you go to order Kindle, it shows you the cost is $0). The digital version is a great extra way to preserve your purchase, plus in Kindle, photos can be made HUGE. No shipping fee saves you $4, getting a free Kindle saves you $10, for a total savings to you of $14 when you buy the paperback. Enjoy these savings through Amazon's working closely with the author. The author has a master's degree in history and another master's in library science. He just published a theater history book in 2010 about the Royal Poinciana Playhouse in Palm Beach, Florida, to help save that theater. Clarie has also published another book in 2009 on the Pharos, ancient lighthouse of Alexandria. He is a strong advocate for saving historic buildings, ancient monuments, and especially famous stage theaters. He loves the challenge of unburying old history articles in newspapers and ancient books, reading those 10,000 sources, digesting all that information, and then erupting it forth into a beautiful new creation that people can read and enjoy.